The Marketing Technology Blog

Aside from the assistance I try to provide other bloggers through this blog, I actually do help a few bloggers hands-on. Unfortunately, I don’t get to spend as much time to do that as I’d like to - I have to work to pay the bills. Yesterday I took the day off and attended a regional web conference. The conference was fantastic, a compact day full of 1 hour sessions that were jam-packed with information from web professionals.

The beginner blogging session was packed! When you’ve been blogging for over a year, you forget that many people aren’t exposed to blogs or the underlying technologies. One of the best questions of the session was, “How can I tell the difference between a blog and another website.” I really had to think for a minute, then explained that you may not be able to tell the difference anymore. Many new websites incorporate blogging as a standard of the content section. Of course, sites like mine ‘look’ like a blog - with a collection of journal posts on the home page in reverse chronological order… but some others don’t even come close!

Who should be Blogging?

Another great question was asking how blogging could assist in non-technical or political industries. Blogs lend themselves to politics because of the widespread hysteria and cash . Blogs have always lent themselves well to technology because, lets face it, being a successful blogger usually required a high aptitude for technology. Blogs can absolutely assist in any industry, though! The latest blogging engines and content management systems have automated many of the options that were once manual.

My friend, Glenn, blogged while on a mission in Mozambique. I’m surprised that religion and philanthropists haven’t adopted blogging more. Fred Wilson blogs about being a Venture Capitalist. I’m surprised at all of the industries that don’t blog, either. Why don’t scientists blog and share their discoveries? Why don’t retailers blog about store openings, customer service, and specials? Why doesn’t the President blog? (No one listens to the stupid radio show!) Why don’t Police blog and talk about the difference they are making in the community? Why don’t teachers blog and share their day to help students and parents? They really need to be!!!

Blogging and Content Management System Convergence

An example of a website that doesn’t look anything like a blog is CNET. The news section of CNET truly is a blog in every sense of the word. The articles are in reverse chronological order and each of the articles has a permalink, incorporates links, comments, pings, and even some social bookmarking links. But it’s a news site!?

Content Management Systems are catching up with blogging… or vice versa. Web Application providers recognize the SEO benefits of blogging and have integrated those features into their applications. But they have still not solved many of the issues, though! Yesterday I wrote about focusing on your strengths to be successful.

Blogging is no different. There’s a lot to leveraging the technology, and a lot to leveraging your content. Many people write fantastic blogs with incredible content but their site fails to grow… not because it’s a bad blog, but because the blogger doesn’t understand and exploit the technology to attract new readers.

Blog Coaching

Out of curiosity, I googled Blog Coaching. I’m not going to name names, but I reviewed about a dozen of the sites of those companies or individuals that classified themselves as ‘Blog Coaches’. Not a single one of them talked about the actual technology! In reviewing the details, most “Blog Coaches” were simply copywriters and brand strategists. No doubt that these are essential elements of a corporate brand, but geesh.

I suppose it’s like racing a car and never actually shifting gears. Your engine is revving as fast as it can, but everyone else is flying by you and you can’t understand why! You really need a coach that understands how the entire car works if you want to win the race, not just how to drive. You need someone who is going to squeeze every last bit of speed and power out of the blog AND the blogging software. My success with blogging has really been a combination of the two. I realize that at times I do not write well, but I make up for it by tweaking every ounce of horsepower out of my engine.

I read about Mr. Deity on Ruth’s blog. For those sensitive Christians, this probably isn’t an appropriate series of videos. I’m not sensitive, just faithful.

Anyways… is the number of users who’ve rated this video ironic? I’m not sure I should move on to Episode 3.

Wow… what a game! If you didn’t get to see the greatest comeback in NFL playoff history, it was absolutely incredible. There are so many things about this team and this city to appreciate. I have never been a huge fan of professional sports or athletes - but the Colts have changed my opinion of sports franchises. It’s the very things that have changed my mind that people don’t realize because it’s ignored by the media.

A couple years ago, I had the pleasure of having lunch with Cato June at a Colts luncheon. Cato was such an absolute gentleman… very humble and very thankful for having his shot in professional sports. After the lunch Jeff Saturday took some time out and signed an autograph for me (I gave Cato’s and Jeff’s autographs away to some fans that were bigger than I was).

Both guys thanked me for spending time with them and their organization (it was an Advertiser’s Breakfast with the team).

A couple years later and I find myself working closely with Pat Coyle, his sister Maureen, and AJ Macht from The Indianapolis Colts. There’s simply no way to express how nice this organization is to work with. They care about the fans, they care about the economic development of the city, they love being in Indianapolis, and they care about being good shepherds to the city and to the NFL. How does that compare to other teams in any sport?

There’s a good chance that Indianapolis will see a Superbowl here in the next couple years now that the new stadium is going up. As well, it’s suspected that the Lucas family will be returning their headquarters back to Indiana from California. The Colts are great for Indianapolis.

For all the naysayers that talk about the money spent on the Colts, there’s no better investment that will return so much to our region. This weekend alone, it’s estimated that $15 million was spent in the city from visitors here for the AFC Championship game. That’s a lot of tax revenue in one weekend!

Folks may also not realize this is the first Superbowl with African American coaches… not on one side of the field, but both. For an industry that hasn’t paid too much attention to black coaching talent, that’s a great story. And it’s already making the news.

What won’t make the news, though, is that both coaches are also devout Christians. Not the type of Christians that spread intolerance and make judgements on others… they are the type of Christians that believe they must set an example of Christianity for others to follow. Jim Irsay is also a Christian, thankful for the gifts and opportunities that God has given him as well. Wow… this is a Christian Superbowl.

As I watched the highlights on several news stations, they’ve already cut out the clips of Jim Irsay and Tony Dungy showing their appreciation for the gifts, strength and opportunities that were given to them by God. It was the first message out of their mouths… but it never made the news.

Ironically, this is the exact Christian behavior that should make the news and should be communicated beyond our borders to other countries. Stories of faith, generosity, leadership, hope, and happiness from some great Christians. Instead, the news will focus on the fanatics, intolerance, perversion and greed… and they’ll help the rest of the world point at us as a country full of hypocrisy, greed, lust, and injustice.

For anyone able to read this message… I hope you spread the word. For many years, the phrase that accompanied the Colts was “We Believe!”. Amen, yes we do! We’re thankful for the first Black and Christian Superbowl.

As for the Superbowl… I’d like to propose a friendly bet to my new good friend, Jim Walton, in Chicago. Jim really wanted Lovie and Tony to make the Superbowl but he didn’t think The Colts could pull it out. If the Colts lose, I’ll take Jim out for a great steak here at St. Elmo’s, one of the finest and oldest steak houses in Indianapolis. Jim… you up for taking the bet and showing me a great place in Chicago when the Colts win?

A blog challenge from Lorelle to write the 50 things you’ve learned this year. I love a challenge, so I wanted to push myself to really come up with as many as I possibly could. 2006 was an incredible year for my blog and I’ve learned so much. I had to ‘easily’ come up with 100, right? Well… it was tough but here it is!

1. Lorelle was right in asking for a list of 50. I quickly learned lists of 100 are too long.
2. Time with family is more valuable than anything else.
3. If you allow people the freedom to be creative, they will amaze you.
4. My son is incredible, talented in music, a thirst for theology, and a desire for physics.
5. My daughter’s voice is amazing! She’s in the Wizard of Oz and the Indiana State Music program this year.
6. Technorati’s ranking engine is great.
7. I am starting to appreciate security more than risk in life and work.
8. Cascading Style Sheets are amazing but tables still sometimes work better across all browsers.
9. Microsoft still doesn’t understand how CSS works.
10. Google makes great APIs and their Maps API is incredible.
11. The <acronym> tag is really quite useful. You should use it on all abbreviations so folks know what you’re talking about.
12. Geotags are coming! Geotag your site with my tool, Address Fix.
13. Alexa has some really huge variances short-term, but seems to be accurate long-term.
14. Blogging is easy, blogging strategically takes a lot of work.
15. Nothing helps to build readership better than readers who spread the word on your blog! Thanks Mike!
16. MyBlogLog should be on every blog.
17. Ajax is great, but Ahah is easier.
18. SQL Injection Scripting is a big security issue, but not difficult to learn or protect your site from.
19. Americans vote for hope much more than they do for performance.
20. Some people can be mean on the internet and we should all work to stop it.
21. Some A-List bloggers believe I shouldn’t be able to take gifts because they believe it may influence my blog.
22. Affiliate Marketing programs like Google Adsense can help pay your Internet and Technology costs and readers don’t seem to mind.
23. AdsBlackList can help improve your Adsense revenue.
24. ProBlogger.net helps you become a better blogger… which may or may not lead to more money.
25. Feedburner is a must have for all blogs.
26. You can post your resume online and search for resumes online using RSS
27. Old-school media still doesn’t understand nor do they adopt technology, this is ultimately leading to their demise.
28. Anyone has the power to start a chain of events on the internet that will generate a ton of attention and interest! Thanks Mack Collier for the Z-List.
29. Some A-Listers still appreciate a little bit of attention! And they are accessible and friendly!
30. I love blogs with illustrations and have underestimated the power of visualization on websites and blogs.
31. There are extraordinary people in this world with extraordinary lives and lessons.
32. Google Reader is a great tool where I spend most of my time with over 100 feeds.
33. Color combinations are important to a site’s aesthetics, my new favorite color combination tool is Adobe’s kuler.
34. Adobe Labs is something to watch out for… they have some amazing technologies that are progressing. The most amazing to me is Apollo - a development platform that will take web integration out of the browser and on the desktop. Flex is fun!
35. Google is beginning to struggle with it’s growth. But I still have faith in their ability to move quickly.
36. Yahoo! Answers, YUI and Yahoo! Mail are great… is that all you have? I used to love Launch, but no Mac support.
37. Why buy flat screen? I’ve got 10 more years on my Toshiba and the price wars are bringing the prices down to nothing as the quality improves every day.
38. I love Google Docs, but sometimes I can’t save. Ugh. I know it’s beta.
39. Digging deep into Google Analytics can be challenging, but very rewarding.
40. I thought the Internet was the best technology for spreading democracy ever invented, but now I believe blogging on the Internet has surpassed the very medium itself. No longer is information filtered to us, we can go to the source.
41. There is plenty of room for a great new blogging platform.
42. If you’re not paying for it and you’re using it, you will get everything you’re paying for. In other words, if you’re not paying for it, stop complaining or people will stop giving it away.
43. Bloggers can accept gifts. As influencers, it’s an acceptable and effective method of marketing. Trust is the responsibility of the blogger. Disclosure is key.
44. There are not more predators because of the Internet, but thankfully, because of the Internet there are a lot more predators being caught.
45. Newspaper and Broadcast Media will continue their declines in readership and viewership.
46. My favorite non-fiction book read in 2006 was In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote.
47. Technology will continue to advance at a pace that institutions can not keep up with.
48. It’s time to elect a minority to the office of the Presidency. One with no ties to Skull & Bones.
49. 2007 will be the convergence of video via the net and cable television.
50. I will complete my book on the technology of blogging in 2007.
51. I will begin public seminars on the technology of blogging in 2007.
52. I will make the top 5000 on Technorati in 2007. (I moved from 100,000 to 12,000 this year)
53. Female Pop Stars continue to lose my respect and make poor role models for my daughter, mostly the white trashy ones.
54. “Politically Correct” is inherently racist because it doesn’t respect the amazing differences that races, creeds, colors, and religions have.
55. Happiness is found within.
56. Google Organic Search is my primary source of readers.
57. Commenting on blogs is key to your growth as a blogger.
58. If you just regurgitate stories, I will stop reading your blog.
59. If you post too much during the day, I will stop reading your blog… even if it’s great material.
60. If you post too little, but it’s quality, I’ll hang on and keep reading your blog.
61. When someone spoofs your domain when they send out SPAM, you can be met with over 5,000 undeliverable messages in the morning that you can do absolutely nothing about.
62. Something as simple as a challenge question can reduce your Contact Form spam to nothing. If someone doesn’t develop it for Wordpress Comments, I will.
63. Britney, Madonna, Donald and Rosie are all idiots.
64. Don’t count out Microsoft (or Zune). If they can’t find ways to invent, they’ve always found ways to buy.
65. I think many business leaders are incredibly talented at execution and simplifying the problem.
66. Great companies understand that human resources are an investment, not an expense.
67. Outsourcing to other countries is a challenge because of the lack of understanding of our culture, not our technology.
68. There are very few differences between the democratic and republican parties. But while we hate, fight, and challenge each other politically, the leaders laugh and walk away with the money.
69. When you don’t have anything to celebrate, it’s easier to hate those who do. This is terrorism.
70. Peace is a wonderful thing, it’s too bad that so many times people have to fight and die to attain it.
71. I’m against the death penalty, but I’m relieved that Saddam Hussein is dead. I’m sorry.
72. My favorite business book of 2006 was Naked Conversations.
73. A Microsoft fan my entire life, I have to admit that I love my MacBook Pro. And it runs XP great (but very rarely).
74. Al Gore and Robert Kennedy, advocates for the environment, travel by private jet all year long.
75. Starbucks is really starting to fill up their coffee shops with too much retail crap to buy. I just want coffee and a nice place to sit. Your hard seats may keep people coming and going quicker, but they suck.
76. Musicians will continue to gain freedom, but the Music Industry will continue to die because the money will go to those who deserve it rather than those who wish to control it.
77. Verizon needs to take all those thousands of employees all over their commercials and put them behind the counter so I don’t have to stand there for two hours.
78. Get Firefox.
79. StumbleUpon, Dzone, Digg, and Redditt are fantastic ways to get the word out on your newly launched applications on the web.
80. If I were going to build a movie cinema, it would have private tables, a top-notch meal, a great wine list, and an expresso bar. Then I wouldn’t mind dropping $100 bucks on a movie.
81. I love rewards programs though I don’t think I really benefit from them.
82. Pageviews should not be the primary indicator for advertisers to judge a website on or pay for ads with, neither should CPM. It should shift to CPV, a better indicator of interaction between the visitors and the advertisers.
83. My favorite magazine (that keeps getting better) in 2006 was Practical Web Design.
84. Email will still continue to be a primary means of communication between companies and their customers.
85. Gaping Void is a great site, but I can’t put a lot of the content on my site because Hugh likes to use some language I don’t think is appropriate for my readers.
86. Video blogging kind of sucks.
87. The Internet and Google provides a great means for ex-girlfriends to track you down and relentlessly try to speak to you until you have to ask them to stop. Oy.
88. Amazon’s Associates program either doesn’t work or doesn’t make any money. Either way it sucks.
89. Software developers should develop components or applications, but rarely both. If you develop applications, buy your components. If you build components, release them and see what people can build with them!
90. Open source is not a means of collectively developing a great product with thousands of resources. Open source is a means of exposing your product to thousands of people so a few talented developers can develop a great solution.
91. My favorite technology book read in 2006 was The Zen of CSS design.
92. Geographic and/or niche social networking is the next phase of the net, including blogging, search, and networking. Watch MyColts.net.
93. I’m well connected on LinkedIn and I have no idea how it helps me.
94. Plaxo is awesome and allows me to synchronize over 8 address books on a constant basis.
95. No mountains or ocean, but the people are fantastic. I Choose Indy!
96. The Indianapolis Business Journal and Ruth Holladay’s blog supply me with more news about the region than any other source.
97. Programming well is still difficult.
98. Employees want to do a great job and be recognized for it.
99. Reality Television is an oxymoron.
100. I don’t have enough time to read, so I have books everywhere and I pick them up every chance I get.

Lastly… One last time for last year! Check out the Z-List! The best blogs you may never have read!